Slaying of attorney raises new questionsBAGHDAD, Iraq – The execution-style killing of one of the defense lawyers in the trial of Saddam Hussein sent shock waves yesterday through the ranks of Iraqi and U.S. officials and raised fresh questions about whether it is possible to hold a fair trial in the midst of a brutal war that has spurred revenge killings against people targeted for alleged links to Hussein.

Texan and Swiss execs charged in oil-for-food scandalNEW YORK – A federal prosecutor yesterday unsealed an indictment charging a veteran Texas oil tycoon, two Swiss associates and three of their companies with paying millions of dollars in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's government in exchange for rights to buy discounted Iraqi crude under the U.N. oil-for-food program.

DeLay case judge postpones hearing due to recusal issueAUSTIN, Texas – Rep. Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader, entered a criminal courtroom for the first time to face his nemesis, the prosecutor who has charged him with money laundering and conspiracy, but the proceedings were brought to a halt yesterday almost as soon as they began.

Inventor fears law will quash creativityWASHINGTON – In the world of small-time inventors, George Margolin, 75, of Newport Beach is a resounding success. He has patented a syringe that prevents unwanted needle pricks, a folding keyboard that was licensed by Hewlett Packard and 25 other devices from the practical to the arcane.

High court in Kansas voids 'Romeo-Juliet' sex statuteMatthew R. Limon had just turned 18 when he had consensual oral sex with a boy shy of 15 at a Kansas school in 2000. He was convicted of criminal sodomy and sentenced to 17 years in prison. Had the sex been heterosexual, the maximum penalty would have been 15 months.

REGION UPDATE New report fuels three-strikes debateSACRAMENTO – More than half of California inmates serving time in prisons due to the state's "three strikes" law are there for nonviolent offenses, according to a study of the law that also found little link between the law and crime rates.

Landscaper says he won record lottery prizeMEDFORD, Ore. – A Medford man says he and his family hold the winning ticket to the record $340 million Powerball jackpot. Landscape contractor Steve West says he has no big plans for the money, other than a car and a vacation.

Advocates criticize toy doll 'adoption'NEW YORK – A popular toy-marketing campaign, in which girls browse through hospital-style nurseries to choose a lifelike doll to "adopt," has come under fire from prominent adoption advocates who say the program, featured at scores of stores nationwide, conveys a harmful notion that adopted children are salable commodities.

New Orleans' canopy of leaves left thinNEW ORLEANS – The sun shines brighter in this upended New Orleans fall season. It bathes an unexpectedly leafless, wintry landscape in harsh light, even as the temperature outside says summer.

New York Times: Miller misled paperWASHINGTON – The New York Times' Judith Miller belatedly gave prosecutors her notes of a key meeting in the CIA leak probe only after being shown White House records of it, and her boss declared yesterday that she appeared to have misled the newspaper about her role.

Victory seems elusive in new 'Scopes Trial'HARRISBURG, Pa. – By any measure, the professor appeared trapped on the legal ropes. Biochemistry professor Michael Behe had conceded in federal court that precious few scientists support the intelligent design theory, which holds that the machinery of life is so complex as to require the hand of an intelligent creator.

S. Korea giving U.S. vet highest honorLOS ANGELES – A veteran of two wars, retired U.S. Army Col. Young Oak Kim has received more than a dozen medals.
Kim will soon add one more. South Korean President Roh Moon-hyun recently approved giving him the Taeguk Order of Military Merit, the highest military honor in South Korea.

WORLD

Rumsfeld sees a bigger defense role for S. KoreaSEOUL, South Korea – Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's talks here on the future shape of the U.S.-South Korean defense alliance made two things clear: The South Koreans want more control over their own defense, and Washington wants to give it.

Report on killing of ex-Lebanese leader causes major stirBEIRUT, Lebanon – The first findings of the U.N. investigation of the killing of Rafik Hariri, the former prime minister of Lebanon, appeared in Beirut and Damascus, Syria, yesterday, dominating news broadcasts and conversations.

Boy tests positive for flu, is improvingBANGKOK, Thailand – A Thai boy tested positive for bird flu yesterday, but doctors said he was recovering and there was no sign he caught the virus from his father, who died this week.

Indonesian students rip U.S. on Iraq warJAKARTA, Indonesia – U.S. goodwill envoy Karen Hughes got an earful from a group of mostly female Indonesian Muslim students yesterday, who expressed anger at the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and attacked Washington's foreign policies.

Nationality may have saved reporterDUBLIN, Ireland – An Irish reporter who was abducted by Shiite extremists in Baghdad and freed 36 hours later said yesterday that he had braced himself for the prospect of several months in captivity or a beheading.

Ruined Pakistani city is home to evacuees, but others departMUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan – The ruined capital of Pakistan's part of Kashmir has become a city of migrants. People from stricken mountain villages have flooded into the city, often on foot. They stay in tent camps set up just about anywhere there's a flat patch of ground.